The statistics service, in a monthly report on the country’s merchandise trade, said the trade deficit grew 9.7 percent in the seven-month period from January to July. The value of import-arrivals amounted to 3.593 million euros in July, from 3.040 billion in the same month last year, an increase of 18.2 percent (excluding oil products, the value of imports grew 26.5 percent).

The value of export deliveries totaled 2.249 billion euros, from 2.329 billion in the same month in 2015, a decline of 3.4 percent (excluding oil products the value of exports rose 0.7 percent). The country’s trade deficit totaled 1.344 billion euros in July, from 711.6 million in July last year, an increase of 88.9 percent (excluding oil products the trade deficit soared 97.9 percent).